


Save me some cake laddatron

by samanthajane



Category: Ed Sheeran (Musician), One Direction (Band)
Genre: Birthday Fluff, Long distance angst, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-02-05
Updated: 2013-02-05
Packaged: 2017-11-28 06:08:32
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,103
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/671159
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/samanthajane/pseuds/samanthajane
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Harry knows what he wants for his birthday, but he also knows he can't get it. Ed has other ideas.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Save me some cake laddatron

Nick’s taking him out. It’s not ideal but it’s nice. He’s missed Nick. He’s missed everyone. But he’s missed Ed for a year and a half and it’s getting really fucking old and he’d quite like him there on his birthday if he never gets him any other time. Apparently nineteen’s not an age where you’re allowed pipe dreams like that though, so he has to settle for this.

A part of him wants to go home, to Holmes Chapel, and spend his birthdays the way he used to when he was younger- sitting with his mum on the sofa and look through old photos until the clock would strike twelve and she’d kiss him on the forehead and wish him a happy birthday, then tell him to get to bed because he had school in the morning. It sounds a bit more appealing than a silly club.

(Plus his mum might be a bit more forgiving if he cries for not getting to see Ed on a day he should be allowed to spend however he wants, Nick will probably take the piss out of him if he cries tonight. In fact, he definitely will, Harry’s prepared for it.)

But he’s nineteen now, or almost, and not really allowed to turn down drinking on his birthday.

~

Every time he goes out with Nick he imagines what Ed would say about the places they go; how he’d smirk at the swishy haired barmen and scoff at the drink prices and refuse not to order a pint, how he’d mutter nonsense like “this toilet cubicle probably cost more than my flat” and groan about the lack of ‘decent’ music. It’s funny because Harry really likes the nights out he has, likes the music, the people, the atmosphere, but there’s a part of him wants Ed there making a mockery of it all. Or maybe he just wants Ed there. That probably makes more sense.

He’s in Nick’s flat when Ed texts him, they’d been on Skype earlier for a bit but the connection was fuzzy and they weren’t sure of what to say without going into ‘dangerous territory’.

(Because ‘Tour Talk’, i.e. when they are across the world from each other, i.e. all of the goddamn time, should be strictly catching up and dumb jokes. But birthdays make stupid things like ‘I love you’ and ‘I miss you’ and ‘Wish you were here’ slip out, all of which they agreed several times were only going to make things worse, and that they really shouldn’t say, but all of which they constantly slipped up and used anyway.)

**New message: Ed**

**Is it your birthday yet???**

**Reply:**

**How are you still this terrible at time difference?**

**New message: Ed**

**I have no concept of time anymore**

**Reply:**

**Well, it’s 3 minutes until my birthday here.  5 hours and 3 minutes for you. Nick just gave me a drink that tastes like feet…**

**New message: Ed**

**Don’t drink things that taste like feet, darling, unless you like the taste of feet, in that case do what you like.**

**Reply:**

**So liberal.**

**New message from: Ed**

**HEY YOU’RE 19 :D HAPPY BIRTHDAY**

**I LOVE YOU MORE THAN I LOVE CAKE**

**Reply:**

**Romantic.**

**New message: Ed**

**SO romantic. Have a fun night, tell Grimshaw to keep his wandering hands off you. And don’t miss me too much, I wouldn’t be allowed in swanky hipster clubs anyway- worst dressed male n that. Call me later xxxxx**

**Reply:**

**I’d get you in, I’d bully the bouncer- I am villain of the year after all.**

**New message: Ed**

**Worst dressed male and villain of the year. WHAT A PAIR WE ARE. ;)**

**Reply:**

**A lovely match.**

**New message: Ed**

**I’d say so x**

~

It’s fun. He has fun. He dances and everyone sings to him and James picks him up and swirls him around until he can’t stop laughing. His friends all pat him and hug him and he grins so wide his face hurts.

He also gets horrifically drunk and slurs into Nick’s neck about feathery ginger hair in the mornings and a sweet but rough voice in his ear down the phone singing to him and how he misses it all, all of the time.

Nick chuckles and rolls his eyes and buys him unholy amounts of shots and tells him it’ll help. It doesn’t really but shots are fun anyway.

~

Ed laughs at him the next day when he’s complaining about a sore head and how he’s already been sick twice. But he also sings him Happy Birthday and tells him all the different places he’d kiss him if he were there so Harry excuses the teasing.

His mum takes him to lunch and Louis takes him out shopping and buys him the most ridiculous shirt in existence and insists he wears it to his second party tonight. He isn’t going to until he video calls Ed to show him and it makes him laugh so much his face goes red and his eyes crinkle, then he _has_ to wear it, just because it pleased Ed so much. Louis tells him he’s ridiculous and Harry tells him to fuck off.

Zayn calls him in the evening because he can’t make the party because he’s got plans with Perrie, Harry understands it’s a rarity so he’s not mad, they talk about Ed and Perrie and how it all sucks and Zayn reminds him that it’s all worth it when there is time. Harry thanks him for it because Ed’s not always there to remind him. Zayn tells him he’ll always be there for Harry when he needs it.

~

He enjoys this party more, probably because Chris and Jake come and talk about Ed, how he’d love to be here, how fond he looks when he talks about Harry, how much he looks forward to it when they have time to meet up. It’s comforting, hearing them spoken about from an outside perspective, makes him think he’s not imagining it all.

Nick brings him a stupid cake and a tiara and kisses him on the cheek. Liam lifts him up on his shoulders and makes everyone sing to him. Niall sprays champagne in his face. He feels really loved, and only a little bit sad.

He only tries to call Ed four times, and gets through twice, one time it’s just to shout the lyrics to Ho Hey down the phone when it comes on and all the couples start swaying and giggling around the room and he _needs_ to talk to Ed. Ed humours him and sings along for a few moments but says he has to rush off, Harry’s sad until Louis takes his hand and pulls him onto the dancefloor and sings with him instead. The second time it’s when he’s outside laughing while Niall and Jake smoke and joke and he just really needs to tell Ed he loves him and that his tweet made his entire day. Ed laughs at him, and tells him he has to go, sounding distracted and rushed again.

Harry hates long distance but he won’t cry on his birthday.

~

He wakes up on his first proper day of being nineteen with a two day hangover and cake in his hair. He thinks Niall might be in the spare room because he can remember being put to bed by him and asking him to stay, but can’t remember much else. He looks at his phone and sees he spent a lot of the night texting Ed a string of embarrassing messages – **please come to my party and dance with me, I want a birthday kiss, I want a kiss from you, I love your kisses, I love you**.

He’s just about ready to care when someone appears in the doorway who is definitely not Niall.

“Hey you.” Ed smirks. He’s carrying two mugs of tea and all he’s wearing is jeans and the god awful love heart shirt, half unbuttoned with cake smeared down one arm, looking like he literally picked it up from where it was crumpled in a heap on the floor. Harry loves him so much his head starts to spin when he sits up properly, or maybe he’s just still a bit drunk.

Harry can’t speak, he’s reaching out and tugging Ed forward and taking the mugs and clattering them to the table with little care and pulling Ed down, paying no attention when Ed’s muttering “I literally have a few hours.” and “I don’t know why I’m here.” All he does is kiss him and _kiss_ him and flip them over so he’s got Ed underneath him and there are soft hands running over his back and a voice against his lips breathing “I just had to.”

“I love you.” He breathes back and he’s smiling more than he thinks he ever has before in his life.

“I love you too.” Ed says, kissing him and not really pulling back properly to murmur “Happy birthday, superstar.” He rests their foreheads together and touches Harry’s face softly, scanning over it with careful eyes as if he’d forgotten all the shapes of his features and is trying to memorise them properly this time, “For yesterday, of course. Now what do you want to do today to make up for me missing all the fun this weekend?”

Harry doesn’t care what time they have, this is the only birthday present he wanted.

~

A few hours literally means a few hours, Ed flew through the night straight after his show and he has to be on another flight by 12.30. Harry woke up at 9.

But they make the most of it. The first hour they spend in bed (Harry’s thankful that it turns out Niall wasn’t in the spare room), until Ed insists they do something else because sexual favours are not the only birthday thing he wants to do for Harry. So he takes him out.

Harry’s hungover and Ed hasn’t slept in over a day but neither of them will let it ruin anything. They go for a walk around the local park, Harry wears a hat and a big puffy jacket but they don’t get seen anyway. It’s fairly empty because it’s cold and it’s still early, they find a secluded spot under a tree to cuddle up, Ed yawning and tucking Harry under his arm protectively, comfortably.

They chat quietly, only needing a small murmur to hear each other, the real words being said with Harry’s fingers tracing Ed’s arm and Ed nosing at his cheek every so often. After a while they shift and Ed cradles Harry’s head in one hand, fingers resting firmly against the top of his neck, he lifts his chin up with the other hand and stares at him, blue eyes twinkling in the dull grey London light, and kisses him. It’s soft and slow and it’s right there in public where anyone could see but no one can because no one cares but them, which is a nice feeling some of the time, Harry thinks. He feels normal for a few moments, like his boyfriend picked him up on his birthday and whisked him away for the day to spoil him with stupid things that mean everything like kissing under trees. Until he remembers Ed’s not really his boyfriend and he has forty five minutes before he needs to be at the airport again. But the kissing under trees still matters, he tells himself.

~

“When am I gonna see you again?” Harry mutters against Ed’s lips. They’re by the door, Ed should have left five minutes ago, his taxi driver has honked about forty times and Harry wants to go punch the guy for ruining the moment but he’s too busy clutching to what’s going to be gone again in a minute.

“Dunno.” Ed whispers, he pulls away and looks at Harry seriously. “When we can. Yeah?”

“I’ll miss you.”

“I always miss you.”

“Oh shit!” Harry slaps a palm to his forehead, “I almost forgot.” He runs through to the kitchen quickly, ignoring Ed calling after him.

“What?” Ed says when he reappears. Harry just shoves the lump wrapped in tin foil into his hand and grins sheepishly.

“Saved you some cake.”

Ed’s grinning back, then he’s giggling into Harry’s shoulder, and pulling him down for another soft but eager kiss. The driver’s probably going to be honking for a few more minutes, Harry thinks, but he doesn’t really care, his favourite birthday present’s about to be gone again soon so he’s taking everything he can get.

~


End file.
